When Machado is no longer available he becomes the best available option that he currently isnít.

Best Free Agent 3B option, perhaps. But scarcity of free agent 3Bs doesn't limit other options for spending the money. There are also a lot of teams with 3Bs signed and a lot of other ways to spend $10M+.

I guess Henry is not aware that there are more teams than just the Padres trying to sign him.

I think this is a major issue.... Forum Members around here cherry pick tweets and other comments that indicate that a deal my be close. I have very little faith that Manny or Harper will be signing with us. The general sense on the MLB network is that the Phillies will get one of them for sure... most likely scenario IMO is Harper to Phillies and Machado to White Sox. I will say that I have changed my tune a ton about our FO though.... Originally, I thought they were just doing lip service... but now I think the Padre offers are for real and that the players in question probably prefer to play elsewhere... Machado's decision seems more like a geographical one and Harper might be thinking about his numbers in that band-box in Philly. I keep hearing that PetCo is a deterrent for FA offensive players... even though it was a middle of the row park last year. Not sure how many years like 2018 will be needed to remove that label? In short... for whatever reason I am not expecting either of these guys to sign with the Padres.... but I believe the FO is really trying and that bodes well for the near future of the franchise.

EDIT** Did I just negative jinx this? Right when I submitted this I saw a post that Machado is a done deal.

I think this is a major issue.... Forum Members around here cherry pick tweets and other comments that indicate that a deal my be close. I have very little faith that Manny or Harper will be signing with us. The general sense on the MLB network is that the Phillies will get one of them for sure... most likely scenario IMO is Harper to Phillies and Machado to White Sox. I will say that I have changed my tune a ton about our FO though.... Originally, I thought they were just doing lip service... but now I think the Padre offers are for real and that the players in question probably prefer to play elsewhere... Machado's decision seems more like a geographical one and Harper might be thinking about his numbers in that band-box in Philly. I keep hearing that PetCo is a deterrent for FA offensive players... even though it was a middle of the row park last year. Not sure how many years like 2018 will be needed to remove that label? In short... for whatever reason I am not expecting either of these guys to sign with the Padres.... but I believe the FO is really trying and that bodes well for the near future of the franchise.

EDIT** Did I just negative jinx this? Right when I submitted this I saw a post that Machado is a done deal.